Maurits Acosta 

Hometown: Hialeah, Florida  
School: Hialeah-Miami Lakes Sr. High School

Maurits Acosta was born in the Netherlands to Cuban parents and now lives in Miami, Florida. He is a motivated, committed, and high-achieving student with a passion for civics that finds true pleasure in service to others. He strongly believes that one must be the change they want to see in the world, this is why he has successfully written and passed infrastructure and flooding legislation at the municipal level to improve his community. He wears many different hats in a variety of school clubs and local organizations, including being founder and president of Virtutem Populo, Inc.- a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more civically minded and engaged society through programming, advocacy, and education. The NextGen Program has developed his network and empowered him to continue advocating for civic engagement, youth involvement, school improvement, and education for all students.